Mosaic Evolution of the Basicranium in Homo and its Relation to Modular Development

Bastir, Markus; Rosas, Antonio

doi:10.1007/s11692-008-9037-4

Cited by 69 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…The lateral shift of the upper pharyngeal muscle attachments from the tympanic and petrous (in the apes) to the sphenoid (in modern humans) (18) may be related to this secondary expansion in basicranial breadth. Expansion of the middle cranial fossa and the lateral part of the anterior cranial fossa in Homo apparently postdated midsagittal flexion of the base, affecting both endocranial and facial structure (25,27). This pattern of change is consistent with the hypothesis of developmental modularity in the evolutionary emergence of human cranial base form (27).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

Ardipithecus ramidus and the evolution of the human cranial base

Kimbel

Suwa

Asfaw

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The early Pliocene African hominoid Ardipithecus ramidus was diagnosed as a having a unique phylogenetic relationship with the Australopithecus + Homo clade based on nonhoning canine teeth, a foreshortened cranial base, and postcranial characters related to facultative bipedality. However, pedal and pelvic traits indicating substantial arboreality have raised arguments that this taxon may instead be an example of parallel evolution of human-like traits among apes around the time of the chimpanzee-human split. Here we investigated the basicranial morphology of Ar. ramidus for additional clues to its phylogenetic position with reference to African apes, humans, and Australopithecus. Besides a relatively anterior foramen magnum, humans differ from apes in the lateral shift of the carotid foramina, mediolateral abbreviation of the lateral tympanic, and a shortened, trapezoidal basioccipital element. These traits reflect a relative broadening of the central basicranium, a derived condition associated with changes in tympanic shape and the extent of its contact with the petrous. Ar. ramidus shares with Australopithecus each of these human-like modifications. We used the preserved morphology of ARA-VP 1/500 to estimate the missing basicranial length, drawing on consistent proportional relationships in apes and humans. Ar. ramidus is confirmed to have a relatively short basicranium, as in Australopithecus and Homo. Reorganization of the central cranial base is among the earliest morphological markers of the Ardipithecus + Australopithecus + Homo clade.A s the confluence of the neural, locomotor, and masticatory systems, the cranial base has been the site of profound structural change in human evolution. The modern human basicranium differs from that of our closest living relatives, the great apes, in numerous aspects of shape and morphological detail (1-4). In humans, the foramen magnum and occipital condyles are more anteriorly located, the midline basicranial axis is relatively short anteroposteriorly and strongly "flexed" internally, and the bilateral structures marking vascular and neural pathways through the central part of the base are more widely separated. This organization alters the relationships between the petrous and tympanic parts of the temporal bone. These phylogenetically derived features are already seen in the earliest known skulls of Australopithecus, ca. 3.0-3.4 Ma (5, 6).The cranium of Ardipithecus ramidus, an early Pliocene (4.4 Ma) hominoid from Ethiopia, was shown to have a relatively anterior foramen magnum on a short basicranium, corroborating evidence of nonhoning canine teeth and terrestrial bipedality for phylogenetic attribution of this taxon. These sets of derived characters are shared uniquely with the Australopithecus + Homo clade (7-10). At the same time, pelvic and pedal characters indicate that Ar. ramidus also retained considerable arboreal capabilities (11)(12)(13)(14). Despite the evidence for a unique phylogenetic relationship with the Australopithecus + Homo clade, it has been a...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

Ardipithecus ramidus and the evolution of the human cranial base

Kimbel

Suwa

Asfaw

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Given the modular nature of the human skull (Lieberman et al, 2000;Collard and Wood, 2007;Bastir and Rosas, 2008;Klingenberg, 2008Klingenberg, , 2013Mitteroecker and Bookstein, 2008;Paschetta et al, 2010), and the fact that functional anatomical regions can present distinct evolutionary trajectories and respond differently to evolutionary forces, prior to Fst calculations the craniometric measurements were grouped in different anatomical regions (Table 2). The selection of anatomical regions tried to focus on clear functional regions of the skull; however, a real functional division of the skull is impossible with the linear variables available from Howells protocol.…”

Section: The Cranial Morphology Of the Botocudo Indiansmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cranial morphology of the Botocudo Indians, Brazil

Strauss

Hübbe

Neves

et al. 2015

American J Phys Anthropol

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The Botocudo Indians were hunter-gatherer groups that occupied the East-Central regions of Brazil decimated during the colonial period in the country. During the 19th century, craniometric studies suggested that the Botocudo resembled more the Paleoamerican population of Lagoa Santa than typical Native Americans groups. These results suggest that the Botocudo Indians might represent a population that retained the biological characteristics of early groups of the continent, remaining largely isolated from groups that gave origin to the modern Native South American variation. Moreover, recently, some of the Botocudo remains have been shown to have mitochondrial and autosomal DNA lineages currently found in Polynesian populations. Here, we explore the morphological affinities of Botocudo skulls within a worldwide context. Distinct multivariate analyses based on 32 craniometric variables show that 1) the two individuals with Polynesian DNA sequences have morphological characteristics that fall within the Polynesian and Botocudo variation, making their assignation as Native American specimens problematic, and 2) there are high morphological affinities between Botocudo, Early Americans, and the Polynesian series of Easter Island, which support the early observations that the Botocudo can be seen as retaining the Paleoamerican morphology, particularly when the neurocranium is considered. Although these results do not elucidate the origin of the Polynesian DNA lineages among the Botocudo, they support the hypothesis that the Botocudo represent a case of late survival of ancient Paleoamerican populations, retaining the morphological characteristics of ancestral Late Pleistocene populations from Asia.

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“…Previous work on skeletal integration and modularity in primates has focused on patterns of integration in the skull (e.g., Cheverud 1982Cheverud , 1995Cheverud , 1996bAckermann and Cheverud 2000;Strait 2001;Marroig and Cheverud 2004a, b;Hallgrímsson and Lieberman 2008;Bastir and Rosas 2009) and limb (Young 2006;Rolian 2009;Williams 2010;Villmoare et al 2011). While there is a dearth of research on genetic and phenotypic integration of pelvic traits (but see Carrier et al 2005;Grabowski et al 2011), there has been some progress in studies of embryology and genetic regulation of pelvic development in birds, amphibians, fish, and mice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolvability of the Primate Pelvic Girdle

Lewton

2011

Evol Biol

103

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The ilium and ischiopubic bones of the pelvis arise from different regulatory pathways, and as a result, they may be modular in their organization such that features on one bone may be morphologically integrated with each other, but not with features on the other pelvic bone. Modularity at this gross level of organization can act to increase the ability of these structures to respond to selection pressures (i.e., their evolvability). Furthermore, recent work has suggested that the evolution of the human pelvis was facilitated by low levels of integration and high levels of evolvability relative to other African apes. However, the extent of morphological integration and modularity of the bones of the pelvic girdle is not well understood, especially across the entire order of primates. Therefore, the hypothesis that the ilium and ischiopubis constitute separate modules was tested using threedimensional landmark data that were collected from 752 pelves from 35 primate species. In addition, the hypothesis that the human pelvis demonstrates greatest evolvability was tested by comparing it to all other primates. The results demonstrate that regardless of phylogeny and locomotor function, the primate pelvis as a whole is characterized by low levels of overall integration and high levels of evolvability. In addition, the results support the developmental hypothesis of separate ilium and ischiopubis modular units. Finally, all primates, including humans, apparently share a common pattern of integration, modularity, and evolvability in the pelvis.

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Mosaic Evolution of the Basicranium in Homo and its Relation to Modular Development

Cited by 69 publications

References 71 publications

Ardipithecus ramidus and the evolution of the human cranial base

Ardipithecus ramidus and the evolution of the human cranial base

The cranial morphology of the Botocudo Indians, Brazil

Evolvability of the Primate Pelvic Girdle

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